When it comes to the eagerly anticipated start of Dungeness crab season, we realize we sound like the backseat brigade on a family road trip.

Are we there yet?

We're not the only Dungeness devotees getting anxious.

Crab season has already opened in Washington's Puget Sound, but California's sport crab fishing season only began Saturday, so it may be Thanksgiving or later before we start seeing a steady supply of perfectly plump crustaceans in markets. Last year, crab fishers delayed the commercial season's start while they negotiated better prices. Seafood markets are trying to forestall any potential disappointment this year by not committing to any date, other than Thanksgiving-ish.

Still, that's not putting a damper on the festivities at Nick's Cove, the recently refurbished resort on Tomales Bay, which is hosting an all-day Crab Catch from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The celebration includes a crab-catching competition, cooking demos, and plenty to nibble and nosh -- especially during Crabby Hour, when even the Bloody Marys get a little crustacean action.

"The beginning of the season is a big deal up here," executive chef Austin Perkins says. "Obviously, we'll have fishing going on and little events here and there to keep people entertained. And who doesn't like crab mac and cheese?"

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Talk to any old-timer in these parts, and they know all about Nick's Cove. What began as a collection of fishing shacks and a watering hole in tiny Marshall about 80 years ago has become a swanky, retro treasure, thanks to restaurateur Pat Kuleto, who reopened the resort in 2007. Perkins left his previous gig at Cyrus in Healdsburg to join the kitchen staff the following year.

For a locavore and slow food supporter like Perkins, life doesn't get much better than this. Most of the Dungeness crab served at Nick's Cove comes from 100 yards away. The meat is subtle and sweet, and it's one of the most versatile proteins for "chefs to play with."

"You can do one of a thousand things with it: Crab Louis, risotto, crabcakes, grilled and chilled and all of that," he says. "I haven't found a crab dish I don't like yet."

That's an opinion shared by many of Perkins' colleagues. Gaston Alfaro, the executive chef for the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company's restaurant, combines two of the Bay Area's favorite flavors in a pesto-infused Dungeness dish. Be sure to serve it with plenty of crusty sourdough to mop up the juices.

Dungeness devotion runs so deep at the Lark Creek Group's many Bay Area restaurants, they devote an entire month to its celebration, typically in February. But Paul Bruno, the executive chef at San Jose's Lark Creek Blue, isn't waiting until 2013. He's doing crabcakes, cioppino, Dungeness Louis -- or Louie -- and a Thai-style crab in coconut broth dish now, using Puget Sound crab while he pesters local seafood vendors on speed-dial.

Is the Dungeness here yet? How about now?

"When you get it live and cook it, rather than purchase prepicked crabmeat, it's so much fresher and the flavor is so sweet," Bruno says. "The shell is thin and easy to break apart, so you get nice big chunks of meat."

That sweetness is what makes fresh crabmeat such a stellar ingredient in winter salads in award-winning food writer Georgeanne Brennan's newest cookbook, "Williams-Sonoma Salad of the Day" (Weldon Owen, $34.95, 304 pages). She combines fresh crab with avocados and oranges, for example, or Meyer lemons and mangoes for a dish that works equally well as the first course for an elegant dinner party or as a memorable entree.

It's the freshness and seasonality that's key to all of this, so back away from the -- shudder -- cans. Be patient for just a little while more. The Dungeness are coming.

Join the crab-centric festivities at Nick's Cove in Tomales Bay on Sunday, as they salute the start of sport crab fishing season with crab-catching competitions, cooking demonstrations and plenty of crabby fun. Registration for the crab competition is $40 for adults and teens ($30 of that amount goes to the Petaluma Educational Fund). Children younger than 12 get in free. For details on the day's events, plus the cooking demonstration and lunch ($45), and the four-course prix fixe crab dinner ($55), go to http://crabcatch.eventbrite.com.

Choosing a crab

Dungeness crab is best enjoyed fresh and in season, not frozen or canned. The season runs from November through May or June along the Pacific coast from Central California to the Puget Sound in Washington. You'll find the freshest Dungeness on the docks, sold by fishers who have just come in from their crab pots, and at your favorite, popular seafood market, where there is a high turnover of fish.If the crab is still alive, it should be firm and feisty -- you want a crabby crab, not a limp one.A heavy crab means more moist meat. Make sure you take a whiff before you buy. Dungeness should smell like the sea, not like fish or ammonia.Don't linger. Enjoy that crab the day you buy it.